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Student Punished For Omitting 'Under God' From Pledge of Allegiance

A high school student has been punished for omitting “under God” while reciting the Pledge of Allegiance.

Derek Giardina, 17, a student at Merrill F. West High School in Tracy, California, was given detention and points were deducted from his grade after he omitted saying “under God” during the Pledge of Allegiance.

The Tracy Unified School district said they respect every student's religious beliefs, but if a student is going to lead the school in the pledge, as Giardina did, it must be said in the traditional way, reports CBS13.

Giardina recited the Pledge of Allegiance for the school as assigned by his speech and debate class.

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“Personally I wouldn’t say the pledge at all, because I’m not necessarily very patriotic, and I’m not religious,” Giardina said.

Every student in the class is required to perform the assignment 12 times a year. The first two times Giardina recited the pledge he used the 1954 version.

In 1954, President Eisenhower passed a bill that added “under God” to the Pledge of Allegiance.

"From this day forward, the millions of our school children will daily proclaim in every city and town, every village and rural school house, the dedication of our nation and our people to the Almighty .... In this way we are reaffirming the transcendence of religious faith in America's heritage and future; in this way we shall constantly strengthen those spiritual weapons which forever will be our country's most powerful resource, in peace or in war,” Eisenhower said in a speech following the passing of the legislation.

It was Giardina's third recital where he decided to remove the line “under God” by skipping over it and reciting the pledge as it was before the 1954 amendment. The school did not approve of his decision.

For agnostic citizens, like Giardina, reciting the phrase “under God” is an area of contention. In Giardina's case, it has resulted in a lower grade in his speech and debate class, as well as detention.

"I think I have a low C now, from doing other speeches, but it is a very large point value,” Giardina said.

School officials warned Giardina that if he omitted the phrase again he would be in trouble. He did, and was given detention as punishment.